AN: I'm sorry I lied. I know I told you guys this update would come sooner but... Besides a major writer's block (I had a really hard time putting this chapter together, I had all the ideas but ahhh!) work's been crazy. I haven't even had time to enjoy my vacation - and to think that it ends in one week... But anyway, here it is, better late than never, right? I hope you like it and that it was worth the wait. Now on to my personal thank yous!
Kylie1403 - yes, Marty's annoying... I did that on purpose, I don't like him at all! I hope he doesn't come back next season! Thank you for reviewing!
ReeseAnn - Aw, thank you! I tried, though I was not fully pleased with the chapter (specially the way it ended). Ah, Elton John, love him! I absolutely love Your Song and the one in my fic. I actually discovered this song on a Shania Twain special a hundred years ago, she sang with him and I thought it was so incredibly beautiful! Anyway, what am I talking about? Thank you for your review!
Poetic Angelica - Thank you so much! My classes were fine, I passed which is the only thing that matters lol. Next term I only have four classes! Yay! So good to be almost done with school! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!
Coffeemilkshake - Cruel's my middle name, honey lolol. Just kidding! I swear I tried, but really, I hardly have time for anything else but work and school. I'm so depressed I had to give up all the TV shows I've always loved cause I had no time. The only show I still watch is Gilmore Girls... The only time I have for reading or writing is on the way home from work when I'm on the subway... so sad... I'm sorry you had to wait long (this will most likely happen again) but don't give up! I promise I'll finish this! Anyhow, thanks for the review!
Problem Child1 - 'Poor Marty', don't worry I won't say anything... oops, too late! Hahahahaha Finally found some time to post this, God knows how long I've been writing this chapter! I used to complain when I had nothing to do, but now that I don't even have time to see my boyfriend I start to wish I had nothing to do again, no job... not really, extra money always a good thing! It allowed me to buy Rory's 'reading is sexy' t-shirt! So cool... anyway, like I said Elton John, love him, just not his clothes... his suits always too shiny! Haha Oh, God, I need a break... I envy you for getting too much sleep... anyway, let me stop with the madness and thank you for the review! Thanks!
Riotgirllina - Update soon? I don't know the meaning of these two words for a long time haha, sorry for the wait. Marty... he's a jerk, I don't like him and I definitely do not feel sorry for him. If he were a bit less prejudiced he would try to get to know the people... sorry for the rant... anyway, thanks for reviewing!
Alicia Jo - Oh, man I feel so sorry when I see that you guys wanted me to update sooner... stupid, stupid life gets in the way! Sorry, if I could I'd stay home all day writing. But here's the update, late I know, but it's here, hope you like it! Thanks for reviewing!
Toniboo - You haven't seen the new episodes yet? Oh, I feel sorry for you! And I feel even more sorry that you haven't found a picture of Tanc Sade on the internet.. it's hard, not that many, but I think there's a website where you can see some screenshots from the show, Finn's there! Anyway, glad you like the story! Thanks you for reviewing!
Jmarit17 - yes, same old, same old... haha, that's good, right? I saw the season finale, didn't really like Logan then, or Rory by the way... is this going to be a pattern now, always end the season with Rory and Lorelai a little estranged? But the proposal in the end made up for it. Of course Finn in the beginning... oh, well... thank you for reviewing!
OTHlover04 - Thank you! I try! Though I'm afraid there'll be a little more drama this time... what can I say I just can't help myself, I'm too dramatic! Haha
Lola - Awesome? Amazing? Wow, thank you so much, I'm flattered! I'm glad you're enjoying this story... I wish I could dedicate more time to it, I'm afraid it won't come out the way I thought at first, but oh well, that's life, right? Anyway, thank you for the review!
Smile1 - I love how your reviews are always so very straight to the point hehe. Thank you so much!
Bookworms - yes, pretty good excuse, hehe. And I only forgive you cause again it took me forever to update... I don't like taking this long cause you sorta lose momentum. When I started this story I had all these ideas and dialogues and situations in my mind, but now I can't seem to be able to put them on paper. Too much stuff going on at the same time in my life... it's bad... but good... you know? Whatever... anywho, thank you for reviewing my friend!
Coffeeaddict14 - suggestion noted! I'll see what I can do for a future update! Thanks for reviewing!
Princetongirl - not that soon, but here's the update! Thank you!
Nancerz- - sorry for not updating that soon, but that's life! Glad you like this! Thank you!
Severiona Black - Well, thank you so very much! I appreciate it, really. Thanks for reviewing!
Skittles6 - Thank you!
Well, that was it... oh, I should take the opportunity and apologize to Smile1, Problem Child1, Bookworms, ReeseAnn and Jmarit17 for not reviewing your stories lately, but since I have no time, I'm a little behind on the chapters so... sorry...
One more thing, I don't know how many of you know the Elton John song I mentioned in the last chapter, for those of you who don't, here's my favorite part: (if you don't already know I do not own this song, Sir Elton John does...)
"There was a time / I was everything and nothing all in one / When you found me / I was feeling like a cloud across the sun / What I need to tell you / How you light up every second of the day..."
Oh so pretty! Ok, that's it now, now go on, read the story and tell me what you think later, when you review! Byee!
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Chapter 6: The Engagement Party - Part Two
He was watching from afar. These kind of parties were never really his thing. But he had to be there, his mother made a whole point about how Luke had been so great with him, that he owned him a lot and all sorts of things. But she didn't have to say that much, he knew what Luke had done, and he was grateful. His personality, and maybe his pride, never allowed him to show Luke how thankful he was, but he felt it. And even though he never liked these town festivities, he could never miss his uncle's engagement party.
Nobody had seen him there, not even Luke, and he liked that. He liked to be discrete, almost invisible, when he was not comfortable. And he was not comfortable that night. Of course he knew she was going to be there, it was her mother's engagement party too. He thought he was ready to face her and not suffer any kind of reaction. But that was impossible. As soon as he set his eyes on her his heart nearly stopped. She looked beautiful in her sparkly pale pink dress and curly hair. He thought back to the last time they met. He asked her to go away with him and she said no. How could he think she'd say yes? Give up all her plans, all the things she'd always wanted for her life ever since she was a little girl? She wouldn't, not for him, someone she couldn't rely on. At least that's how he thought she saw him. He left her, he broke her heart, how could she trust him? He was angry when she said no, but he eventually got over it, at least that's what he thought. He realized he was wrong when he saw her that night.
He watched her all night long, he had gotten there early, looking for a spot where he could be unseen, yet could see all. He saw when she arrived with a guy, and though he would swear by his mother's grave the contrary, he was a little jealous. The guy would not leave her side, and she didn't seem to be bothered by that. 'He's probably her new boyfriend,' he thought. He knew about Rory's relationship with Dean. He couldn't believe when he heard that Rory was having an affair with a married man. That was just not her. But it was Dean, the guy always present in her life, seemed kind of justifiable maybe. He also heard how it ended, not the particulars of the break-up, but he knew he had ended it after seeing her with some of her friends from college at a party thrown by her grandparents. 'This is probably the new guy,' he thought staring at Rory and Marty. But the situation changed abruptly when three guys and a girl arrived in fancy sports cars, being loud and making jokes with Lorelai and Luke. 'Ivy League brats,' he thought to himself. He kept on watching Rory and realized his mistake about Marty when he saw a tall dark-haired guy take her to the dance floor.
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Rory let Finn lead her, she was tired and she just dropped her weight on him and allowed him to do what he wanted. She forgot all about the "dance space" and the lesson she took the previous weekend that made her feel inside Dirty Dancing. Finn didn't seem to mind when she placed her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, instead he put both his hands on her back and pulled her closer. Rory could not but think about how this scene would look like in the eyes of her neighbors. Two young people dancing so close to one of Elton John's most romantic songs... she smiled. She didn't care what people would think, she was enjoying herself. Being like this with Finn felt nice, right even.
"This is nice," Finn said in a low whisper.
She opened her eyes, still with a smile on her face and straightened her head so she could face him, and was about to answer him when she spotted Jess almost hiding across the street. "Jess?" she said.
"The name's Finn, love."
She looked up a little confused, "no, I meant, Jess," she said and pointed in Jess' direction with her head. Finn turned his head and saw him, "and who might he be? Old boyfriend?"
"That's exactly who he is. And also Luke's nephew."
"Oh... why is he just standing there, why won't he join the party?"
"He's being Jess. It's just so typical of him to just be standing there, unnoticed by everybody, but observing everything," Rory answered a little annoyed.
"A bit disturbing, if I may say so."
"Whatever..."
"So, what's the deal with you two? Cause surely there's something going on by the way he's staring at us, like he's in the mood for some Australian meat."
"I don't know. There's nothing going on, it's just that things never end easily with us, there never seems to be any closure. I mean, when Dean broke up with me at that party, that was closure. But Jess and I... well, I guess the 'no' I said when he asked me to go away with him would be considered closure by some people."
"Go away? Where?"
"Just away. Jess is crazy, I mean, I can't trust him. He's not very reliable, he's not the kind of person who says 'I'll always be there.'"
"Is that why you broke up?"
"I don't think we ever broke up technically."
"Not following," Finn said confused.
"He left me, he left the town. He found out he wasn't going to graduate high school and Luke had this arrangement that he could only stay with him if he graduated, so he decided to leave. I guess he forgot to call to inform me of his decision."
"He left without saying goodbye?"
"I saw him on the bus when he was going away, but he didn't say anything. I guess I knew, deep down. But it hurt. He never called, not even to explain. When he came back, months later to get his car back, he didn't explain it either. Instead he just said he loved me and took off. Drove off actually."
"He told you he loved you? What did you say?"
"Nothing, like I said, he drove off, he didn't give me time to respond."
"What would you have said?"
"I don't know, it's hard to say. I guess I would have asked, 'why now?'"
"That's a good question. But how about the whole 'let's run away' thing?"
"He showed up at my dorm one day, the end of my freshman year, and I was with Dean by the way, and asked me to go away with him, just like that. He said he loved me and that he knew I still loved him and that we belonged together blah, blah, blah. I said no."
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Yeah, why did you say no?"
"What? So I was just supposed to drop out of Yale all of a sudden to go live God knows where with some guy I never knew if I could trust?"
"Wrong answer," Finn said as the song ended and they stopped dancing.
"Wrong answer?" she said, her hands now on her sides.
"Yes, wrong answer. At least, that's not what I expected to hear. You can always drop out, or transfer or start fresh somewhere else, if you do it for the right reasons. You could have gone away with him if you still loved him, school can't be your excuse from doing the things you actually want to do. You can't hide behind Yale, Rory."
"I'm not hiding behind Yale. I didn't go because I didn't want to go, because I knew I'd get hurt again," she said, now even more annoyed.
"How can you know that? People can change, specially if it's for someone else and even more if it's for love."
"Not Jess, he'd never change."
"So you still love him?"
"What? No! Why would you say that!"
"Everything you've said so far lead to that."
"I do not love Jess," Rory affirmed, her arms crossed over her chest.
"But you still have some feelings for him."
"No, I don't, I don't feel anything for Jess, stop saying that!"
"Then go talk to him."
"What? What for?"
"Go get your closure."
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It was hard to say what was going on inside Finn's head as he watched Rory walk in Jess' direction. He watched her for a while, just until she crossed the street and then turned around, heading for the drinks table where he found Logan and Colin.
"Very touching moment," Colin teased him.
"What?" Finn asked distant.
"You and Rory dancing. Made us all go 'aww!'" he said and burst into laughing. Finn just smiled and said nothing.
"Something wrong, man? You seem kind of off," Logan said.
"It's nothing."
"Where's Rory?"
"She's talking to some guy."
"Some guy?" Colin asked when he stopped laughing, "who?" he started looking around trying to find them.
"They're across the street Colin, and for the love of God, be more discrete!"
Logan and Colin turned their heads to where Finn had pointed and saw Rory talking to a guy in the shadows.
"Who's he? Does he go to Yale? Does he live here?" Colin asked curious.
"His name's Jess, he does not go to Yale, from what I understood he didn't even graduate high school, he did live here for a while, but he left. He's Luke's nephew and Rory's ex-boyfriend."
Logan and Colin raised their eyebrows, "oh," they said together.
"Yeah," Finn said, "a beer please, mate," he said addressing Kirk, who was in charge of serving the drinks. "They've got an unresolved situation, whatever," he said while taking a long sip of his beer.
"Let me guess, you told her to go talk to him," Logan said. Finn didn't answer. "Why do you do this? Every time!" Logan finished.
"I'm not doing anything! I was just being a good friend!"
"Good friend my ass! You want her!"
"I do not!" he protested.
"You do too!" Colin and Logan said in unison.
"You're crazy, Rory and I are friends."
"How's life in planet denial?" Colin asked teasing him.
"Who's living in denial?" Stephanie asked as she approached them.
"Nobody," Finn quickly answered.
"So, it's you," she said smirking.
"Oh, you guys just bugger off!" he said and walked away.
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Rory crossed the street not really knowing what she was going to say, or even if she had something to say. She really had no feelings for Jess, she was being honest with Finn, but he was right, she needed that closure, that 'I don't love you anymore, let's move on'. She felt like she didn't need it, she was already moving on, she was going to do this more for Jess than for herself. She looked back at the party before she finally reached the other side of the street and saw Finn walking towards the drinks table, she turned her head around, sighed and was ready to face Jess.
"Hi," she said awkwardly when she saw his rather unapproachable countenance.
"Hey," he answered in the same way.
"Why aren't you at the party?"
"I am at the party."
"I meant, be a part of it, Luke's your uncle, Jess."
"I'm aware."
Rory rolled her eyes at his response and already regretted having given up Finn's pleasurable company to talk to Jess.
"Wondering what you're doing here?" he asked noticing her look.
"That I kind of am."
"Why don't you go back to your little friends?"
"I was right."
"About?"
"You. You'll never change, not for anyone, not for anything."
"Well since you're so sure, you shouldn't have come here. You seemed to be having a great time dancing with that guy."
"I was, and I regret leaving him to come talk to you."
"You shouldn't have come."
"And I say the same to you. What are doing here if it's just to stand in the corner?"
"I like it that way."
Rory took a deep breath trying to find the patience she was beginning to lose. "How's your life going?" she managed to ask after a few seconds.
"Fine, thank you. How's yours?"
"Fine too... Jess," she began.
"I know Rory," he said interrupting her.
"You know what?"
"You don't love me anymore. I kinda figured that when you said you didn't wanna come away with me and when I heard you were back together with Dean. I'm not stupid."
"You don't love me either."
"That's what I keep telling myself everyday. I thought it was working till I saw you tonight."
"Jess..."
"You don't have to say anything, Rory, I know how you feel. When I'm not here it's easy not to think of you, I thought I was over you, but seeing you brings it all back, and I realize the feelings were never gone, they were just asleep, I was just fooling myself... like I always do."
"I don't get you," Rory said when he was done.
"What?"
"We were together for almost a year, Jess, and never did you say these kind of things to me. You were never sweet, you never said you loved me, or even that you cared about me. A girl needs to hear these things once in a while. And you're not an easy person to figure out, I never knew what you were thinking, what you wanted, what you needed. Now you come to me, saying all this stuff... what do you expect from me?"
"Nothing!" he interrupted her again, "I told you you didn't have to say anything, I know how you feel, I know you're with someone else now."
"I'm not with someone else now."
"How about that guy you were dancing with?"
"Finn and I are just friends."
"Like you and I were."
"No. I can trust Finn."
"Ah, I see... what did you come here for again?"
"I forget. Sorry if I bothered you. Enjoy the party," she said and started to walk away.
"Yeah, you too," he said before she crossed the street.
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Jess watched her head back to the party feeling ever so stupid. She had gone to him, seemed ready to talk about things and he just pushed her away. He pushed her away even farther than she already was. He felt that any chance he might still have had was all lost after all his rudeness towards her. She didn't deserve this, she never deserved this, yet he couldn't help himself, that was his way, he couldn't change. 'But I can, and I will,' he made the resolution.
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Rory crossed the street without even a glance back. She was angry, angry at the way he had treated her, she knew she said nothing so bad as to make him act like that towards her. But that shouldn't have come as a surprise to her, he had always acted like that, but she loved him so she just looked over it, pretended like she didn't mind it. But she did. She was always comparing Jess and Dean. Dean always sweet, Jess always distant. 'I guess love is blind, and deaf, and stupid,' she thought to herself. Not in the mood to rejoin the party and the merriment, she decided to go home for a while and recollect herself, get her head and her feelings back together so she would be able to enjoy the rest of the party she worked on with so much zeal all week long.
She had been there for a while, lying on her bed, her eyes closed, her head working like crazy, thinking about the last hour, the dance with Finn, their conversation, her talk with Jess. She was so deep in thought it took four knocks to finally get her attention to the front door. She reluctantly walked towards it, wondering who might the inconvenient person be, that would go to her house in the middle of a party and disturb her musing.
"What are you doing here?" she asked when she opened the door and saw him standing there.
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AN2: Ooh, Jess or Finn? lol
